"Hi Tim, I was reading your SuperBike blog and ... I wanted to know if you had posted your opinion yet on their [Speed Channel's] sorta new show, Superbikes. I know its been getting a variety of different feedback since its skewed towards the younger demographic and a bit more edgy. What our your thoughts? I'll be reading your blog to hear your feedback :-) Thanks!" - Kelly (Via MySpace)

Actually, I have been meaning to post a review of Super Bikes! for a few weeks, now. I just wanted to get more than a few complete episodes under my belt before forming my opinion. Over all, I think it's pretty good for a lifestyle show. The only pitfall of the format seems to be that its narrow focus will surely lead to the 'same old same old' episodes before too long. Like any other cable lifestyle show, it lacks depth, which is unfortunately part of the territory these days.

Super Bikes! is basically the NOPI Tunervision of the motorcycle set -- you know, lots of scantily clad 20 year-old rally chicks; blinged out, super customized, 1000cc hyperbikes contrasted with half-destroyed stunt junkers, and then everything in between. Basically all the same stuff you can see by hanging out at your local Starbucks on Saturday night.

The one area where Super Bikes! may be breaking ground, however, is in their willingness to show outright hooliganry on public streets. The usual legal disclaimers about trained riders and closed courses precede each episode, but the actual footage -- especially some of the B-roll cuts -- contradicts those claims loudly. I often wonder how such things are interpreted by the ignorant masses who do not understand motorbikes and the culture that surrounds them.

All in all, not a bad show, but don't bother looking below the surface. You won't find anything about motorcycling's spiritual side exemplified in a given episode of Super Bikes!, nor will you gleen anything deeply technical. It's eye candy for twenty-somethings, and that's all it was desgned to be.